Question

At the start of an experiment, some chemicals had a mass of 74g, rounded to 2 significant figures. During the experiment, the mass of the chemicals decreased by 6.3 g, rounded to 2 significant figures. Calculate the lower and upper bounds of the mass of the chemicals at the end of the experiment.​

Answer 1

To calculate the lower and upper bounds of the mass of the chemicals at the end of the experiment, subtract the upper bound of the mass decrease from the lower bound of the initial mass and vice versa. The lower and upper bounds of the mass are 66.6g and 68.8g, respectively.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the lower and upper bounds of the mass of the chemicals at the end of the experiment, we need to consider the significant figures of the initial mass and the mass decrease.

1. The initial mass of the chemicals is 74g, rounded to 2 significant figures. Therefore, the lower and upper bounds of the initial mass are 73g and 75g, respectively.
2. The mass decreased by 6.3g, rounded to 2 significant figures. Therefore, the lower and upper bounds of the mass decrease are 6.2g and 6.4g, respectively.
3. To calculate the lower and upper bounds of the mass at the end of the experiment, we subtract the upper bound of the mass decrease from the lower bound of the initial mass and vice versa. This gives us a lower bound of (73g - 6.4g) = 66.6g and an upper bound of (75g - 6.2g) = 68.8g.

Therefore, the lower and upper bounds of the mass of the chemicals at the end of the experiment are 66.6g and 68.8g, respectively.